DETERMINATION OF THE PRIORITY STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AREAS -A CASE STUDY IN MUGLA FOREST REGIONAL DIRECTORATE

摘要

In this study, we aimed to determine the conservation priority of potential biodiversity areas with important floristic elements by using m ulti-criteria decision-making techniques. 2173 taxa which placed endemic, rare, IUCN and CITES categories were identified in 800 sample sites of 20 potential biodiversity areas by Forest Regional Directorate in Mugla, Turkey. Fifteen criteria were established according to the endemic, rare, IUCN and CITES categories of these plants. According to these criteria, the presence of plants in these potential biodiversity areas was determined. Subsequently, subject matter experts appreciated the priority score of the criteria using a nine-point scale. In the last stage, 20 potential sites which need to be protected in terms of biodiversity have been prioritized by digitizing with ranking and linear combination techniques. Accordingly, the highest priority area to be protected is Eren Mountain with 0.1369 points. The second place was found Fethiye-Babadag Mountain (0.1116) and the third was Sandras Mountain (0.1094). The least conservation area was determined to be Akdag Mountain (0.0045), Paali Plateau (0.0076) and Aydin-Ba- badag Mountain (0.0163), respectively.